The present invention relates generally to conference call consolidation and, more specifically, to a system that combines connections from multiple callers in a particular conference call into a single connection to a remote location.
Business is frequently conducted by groups of individuals. If these individuals are not located in a single geographic location, some or all the individuals often must travel to a chosen location in order to attend a meeting. In order to eliminate the time and expense of people traveling in order to attend a meeting, teleconferencing has been developed.
Teleconferencing is a system in which individuals conduct a meeting by means of telephones or other communication devices. Typically, each individual is connected to a conference call provider by means of an individual connection. or, in the alternative, groups of individuals at a specific location meet in a particular conference room and share a single telephone connection using one or more microphones and speakers. A designated conference call provider provides each participant or group with a telephone number and a pin number. After dialing the telephone number and entering the pin number, each participant is connected to the specific conference call and the teleconference meeting, hosted by the conference call provider, commences. Frequently, each of a number of individuals at a specific location remain in their respective offices and establish individual connections between the location and the conference call provider hosting their conference call. Currently, one way for a group of people to share a connection is by meeting in a particular room and sharing a single telephone. Another way is by having one participant connect to the remote conference call provider, then manually establish a conference call on the local switch with the other local participants. Both of these methods need to be setup in advance by the local participants.
Participants at a specific location that choose to establish individual connections each call the conference number, enter the pin number and then are provided their own connection between their telephone and the conference call provider. In other words, each individual employs a separate connection established over its own outside line to the conference call provider. This system unnecessarily monopolizes available connections to the participants"" business facility and may increase the expense of the conference call by incurring multiple telephone charges.
Provided is a system and method for consolidating multiple telephone calls from more than one individual to a single, remote conference call provider through a telephone switch such that the multiple calls all utilize a single telephone connection between the individuals"" location and the conference call provider. In one embodiment, a private branch exchange (PBX) detects attempts by multiple local callers to reach a designated conference call number and multiplexes those calls through a single telephone connection to the conference call provider. Once a first call to a conference call provider is detected, the PBX waits for or requests the entry of a pin number corresponding to a particular conference call. Following entry of the pin number, a connection to the conference call provider is established, the user is connected to the conference call via the connection, and the PIN is stored in memory. Subsequent callers to the conference call are multiplexed into the connection provided that a PIN input by the subsequent caller matches the PIN stored in memory. In this manner, a conference call attended by multiple callers, each originating from a single local switch such as a PBX, only requires a single telephone connection between the PBX and the conference call provider. In addition, the conference call setup does not require any advance preparation other than the distribution of the telephone number and the PIN to potential participants.
In an alternative embodiment, each local participant to the conference call is provided with a temporary, local telephone number, valid only for entry into the conference call. In this embodiment, the temporary number is internal to the PBX and the separate entry of a pin number is unnecessary, unless required to validate a particular conference call participant. Once a participant is validated, if necessary, the participant""s telephone connection is multiplexed into a single connection to the conference call provider.
In another embodiment, the local switch is implemented in a computer and at least one of the conference call participants communicates via a network such as the Internet using an Internet protocol (IP) telephone connection. The IP telephone connection is then multiplexed with other IP telephone connections and/or standard calls to the switch and, again, a single connection is provided between the participants"" location and the conference call provider. In this and the previously described embodiments, the first caller to a particular conference call establishes the original connection to the conference call provider and later callers are multiplexed into this connection.
In addition to saving money on telephone line charges, multiple telephone lines into and out of the local switch are not tied up, thus providing a higher bandwidth for the switch or computer than is otherwise possible. Further, since some conference call providers charge a fee based upon the number of connections to a particular conference call rather than the number of callers, the charge for the conference call may be reduced as well.